And back we go to a house with nearly no information and that is all in all quite unimportant. Thought it was intiresting to figure out a way to link them to the reach.
Anyway ... I read a review that asked for the Dreadforth/Bolton's. You may need to know that I usually have the next two chapters finished in case I don't find time to write for a longer period of time. As such the Glover's and Whitehill's(my best yet I would like to believe) are already finished and I am either writing the Mormonts or Manderlys next. And for what I have panned I need to at least finish the Manderly's before the Bolton's can take their turn.
There was also the idea mentioned that I could write this from the perspective of someone reading this. Actually a great idea and I might try my hand at that when I have my next vacation and time for some trial and error. Otherwise anyone reading this can try their hands on such a story with anything I write as a base for the reading part or lore part of it. Just tell me so I can enjoy the story as well.
House Glenmores history is one riddled with uncertainities and half truths. On of these is their claim to once have ruled the lands in the reach now under house Tarly. The Tarlys were in their words the decendants of one of their bastards that took their lands in a revolt. Their house managed to flee to the north. House Tarly that meanwhile became the more properous of the two claims that they had to defend agains one of their bastards that took up the name Glenmore and fled north after his defeat. Even the masters aren`t to sure who is the one speaking the truth. But even with this conflict of who is the bastard the Glenmores still enjoy the status as the northern house with the most contacts to the south. Something worth mentioning is that this took place before the Andal Invasions. As such house Glenmore even thought they have reacher blood flowing in their veins believe in the Old Gods.
As complicated as their bloodline is from their time in the reach it does not get better in the north. Here they claim to instandly have come to conflict with former lords of the Stony Shore and managed to become petty kings over parts of it. Others meanwhile claim that the Glenmores came north and became vassals to a local petty king before overthroughing them by killing them in their sleep on feast. The houses history is full of these claims of honer, power and brilliance while many others always speack about the houses more grimm side. Yet neither can fully support their point of view. At least some thruths can be gotten from all of this. The Glenmores had their roots in the Reach before coming north before the Andal Invasion and are as such followers of the Old Gods. In addition they have many relations in the south and their region is better of for it.
In norhtern history the house has proven itself to be very oppertunistic. When there is a change to safely expand their power and land they will often take it even if it means to betray someone they swore oaths to. Sadly as they often chose the right side in these conflicts their position has always been somewhat secure. In the more recent past this has however become problematic. With the Ironfurs firmly in control of their lands and loyal to the Starks and the Ryswells being thought of as more cunning as well as stronger the house had faced trouble in the recent years. Were once the unprotected lordless lands to their north-east were a place for a bit of additional plunder and the easier target for Ironborn this is no longer the case. You can imagine what this resulted in.
Their sigel is a white bow with a white arrow knocked and ready to be shot. The sigel is easily identifiable as similar to the Tarly s hunter in red.
Familie Words: "First to Fire"
Once again the words of the house and the once the Tarlys use (First in Battle) are quite similar while not the same. While the Tarlys words seem to be extending to all forms as battle. As such their words can also represent their desire to start a fight and show that they are not oposed to fighingt at all. Meanwhile the slight variation with fire instead of battle shows that the house is rather oposed to be the culprit that started a battle. Instead the fire part can show that they are not oposed to fighting but insead will be the site that will begin the battle with the first volley of arrows when it comes to it. This could be because the Starks would be rather oposed to newcommers that make problems on their borders and the house had to take itself back a bit in their bloodthirst.
Hold/Keep:
Rillwater's Crossing is a old crumbling castle located by the river flowing from the Twin Lakes. The name comes from the fact that one of the view ferrys over the river is located at the foot of the keep. This ferrys location is possibly older than even the castle build close to it. It has always served to bring goods, soldiers and travellers across. Till today it forms one of the most important points of access to the Stony Shore. In fact most goods leaving their lands by land are taken to the other side by the ferry. The ferry controled solely by the Glenmores is one of the most reliable sources of income to the house. There have been plans to build a bridge by this point but the investement has always been seen as not worthwile. After all the trade goods can take the ferrys just as well and there aren't to many soldiers that have to be taken across either. The river on this point is reknown for having a calm flow and is the last place to overflow in case of floding making it a ideal place for setteling.
The castle takes its name from the close by village under the Glenmores control. It is the largest of its kind on the Stony Shore. There have been attemps to change the catsle name to something more powerfull sounding like Hunters Keep or Riverguard but none has ever used those terms instead of Rillwater's Crossing. The village close by is the sole provider of most of the keeps needs and nothing much needs to be imported. The village makes everything ranging from candles, beer, clothes, preserves, firewood to swords, bows and armours. While most of these goods are of low quality and produced in low quantity this makes the keep one of the most self sufficient in the north. The only goods that have to be transported to the village to function properly are all kinds of food. Otherwise small local production takes care of everything.
The keep as mentioned is an old crumbling castle. It was once a strong and proud castle that while not among the best of the north would still be hard to take in a short time. Its position by the river making it harder to attack and easier to defend while giving the castle well easy access to water even in times of siege. The same can no longer be said with the same conviction. The fact that it was build of stone is probably the only reason that it remains standing. Today even castles build of wood are more impressive than this near ruin. The house has lacked the skilled labour and money to repai their keep in a satisfing manner for centuries. Since their neighboors have grown stronger the Glenomores have not kept up and nearly all their skilled stone masons have died in winter or left the lands for a better life in other lands. That their income has tanked has not helped the house as well. By now the house hopes for a good match to a wealth house whose dowry my pay for a restoration of the walls, towers and living quarters.
While the castle still stands some parts of it had to be closed down or sealed of with wood because of holes in the wall or roofs these parts can not be kept warm in the long winters. Among other things the old stone tower that used to be the highest part of the castle has partially broken down a century back. Thankfully it fell in the water and hadn't ripped down a piece of wall. Sadly the tower held the lords quarter and the valyrian steel short sword that the house held for the longest time was lost in the Rillwater forever. Most of the house believed that when the sword is reclaimed their bad luck will change to fortune. Only the future can tell what will happen.
Geography:
The lands under house Glenmore compromise of the Stony Shore and the islands of the shore. Their lands can be devided in three parts. The easiest to figure out would be the southern islands as they are quite unique. The other two are more interwined. The whole of the Stony Shore is quite a bit over the water line and as such the people call the whole reagon the highlands as well. This leads to the land coming from the west to the east to sink until it rises again to become the mountains the Ironfurs call theirs. In this land the shore to the west makes for one of the regions while the inland areas make for the second region. This devide is quite simply for the betterment of understanding how the land is used and less for a biological reason.
The easiest lands should be started with. As such we have to talk about the islands under their control. These islands are considered part ob the Stony Shore but unlike it these islands have flat coast that can only be reached with smaler boats. They all have a flatland strip of land with thin grass that quickly turns into the snow capped mountains without any vegetation. Only the largest of the three islands by the southern river mouth has a settlement on it while the others are empty. These empty islands are nominally part of the Stony Shore but all sailors coming up or down the coast use these islands to restock. They may not have trees or much wildlife that can be hunted but their fresh water reserves are often tapped into. As they aren't firmly under the Glenmores control the ironborn use these islands as a meatup spot in case of raids. The islands are home to a local type of wild chicken. It is thought that shipwrecked sailers or a failed settlement brought these to the islands in the past. After the humans left these animals turned wild once more. Unlike their domesticated brothers these are larger and capable of flying for extended periouds of time. They also only lay eggs once a year. In winter they fall back to some small caves across the island. They are the most prominent wildlife of the islands but often not worth the time to hunt for sailors.
The Stony Shore is as the name may imply a bit of a different shore. All along the coast are high cliffs that make landing on the shore a hassle would it not be for the hundrets of hidden coves all along it. The cliffs are often temporary exchanges for a small strip of beach with a step cliff that can be climped along small paths. The cliffs are also the highest point of the lands and afterwarts the land is steadily falling. It is interupted by small roling hills but those are just that. Hills. While the shore may be hard to reach and the cliffs uninviting the waters are filled with life. These parts are have of the richest spots of fish in the world. But not only fish can be cought here. It is also home to clams, lobsters and all along the coast whales can be found. Along with the coves that are frequented by seals there aren't many places that contain as much sealife along a partaly settled coast.
The rest of the land is the slowly rolling down grassland. These parts could easily remind one of the southern lands under house Ryswell. But unlike their lands these aren't settled with wild horses. Instead the wild meadows are home to countless hares and foxes. The land is a haven for the hares burrows and the foxes came along when they discovered these substantial hunting grounds. It is thought that no horses crossed over because the river didn't contain any good places for crossing without a boat. The steadyly lowering lands also have the side effect that rivers or rather small creeks are formed all over these parts. Most of these become part of larger streams that flow to the southern river but some of the more northern become a small river that today marks the border to the Ironfur lands. At least for the northern parts. The land is dotted with small woods. By these small woods there are usually the villages. After all even with the abundance of wood that could be bought from other northern houses it is always better to show some independence. As such these small woods are heavily guarded and cutting down of wood regulated to make sure everyone has some for winter.
Lesser Lords:
The Glenmores have lost much in the way of profit with the arival of the Ironfurs to their east but they also made some gains. While the house has always exploited their eastern region some of the lord also viewed the Glenmores as their actual overlords. As such when the Ironfurs and their reforms have scared of most of the old blooded nobles a large part of them asked to settle lands on the Stony Shore instead of swearing alegiance to the Ironfurs. The Glenmores wanted to use the tressures these men brought and took them all in. Because of this there are an extraordinary high number of lords under the house. Those also have quite the small territories especially for a northern house and became prone to infighting for resources. The tressures the lords brought with them vanished quickly. Having been spend to build up small keeps of wood that caused a shortage of it in the short term and a terrible winter as a result.
One of these travelling houses is the house Peater. They have in the past settled in the coastal wetlands and were one of the first houses to leave their lands. Many of the later lords received quite tiny strips of land but the Peaters as one of the first to leave and one of the houses that previously already paid taxes to the Glenmores managed to secure a good chunck of land. The house today rules land along the southern tip of the Stony Shore. Many of the neighboring houses have received smaller lands and over the years taken away land of the house. Today the house is near ruin because of this as most of the good farmland under their control was taken away by their neighboors.
One of the older local houses and principle banners under the Glenmores are the Clifforts. This house has settled their lands at the north-western corner of the Stony Shore longer than even the Glenmores. This house has survived most of the infighting with newer lords and managed to keep all of their lands. They are one of the strongest house under their liege lords and the most loyal as well. They have often married into the Glenmores for this reason. Their lands along the Stony Shore have many thin stretches of beach that the house exploits by fishing while also giving them trouble because of ironborn raiders that use these to attack their villages.
House Greyfox is one of the local houses that has lost some of their lands to the newcommers but managed to hold onto their core lands. Their lands hold some of the largest burrows filled with hares. They are actually the only treat to the rabbits. Once upon a time when the region held many wolfes instead of foxes the house used a large amount of dogs to protect their herds. While others disposed of the dogs with the vanishing o the wolfes the Greyfoxes retrained their dogs to protect the rabbits. Most of the foxes while clever rather keep to safer hunting grounds without guards. Because of this the Greyfoxes manage to outhunt all other houses in terms of rabbits because they don't have to share their prey with nature.
The Redsands are quite unique on the Stony Shore. They were once a house serving under another petty king in Dorne. After a century they left Dorne and managed to conquer lands in the Riverlands were they swore fealty to a larger house for protection. With the Andal Invasion they again had to leave their land and ended up in the lands now under house Ironfur. They once again decided to move and became lords under house Glenmore. Unlike other houses that left to come under the Glenmores the Redsands managed to convince their smallfolk to move with them. They asked for the largest of the then unsettled islands to the south of the Stony Shore. Their island has since been the only settled one. While the house is heavily dependent on the wood bought from other norhtern houses their settlement has become quite succesfull. Their position and flat shore makes exploiting the fishing grounds easy and the flatlands turned out to be surprising easy to farm. The mountains hold some ore. They have no problem with the ironborn because of a deal. They buy timber fo them as well that is then exchanged for salt. In a away this deal helps both parties while the rest of the western shore is worse of for it. Yet the Glemores are full aware of this and support the decision for a small cut of the profit.
People:
The lands are only thinly settled because of many reasons. In the recent past the shortage of wood caused by the arival and subsequent building of several new keeps for the new houses lead to much of the population dying. The small squirmished fought afterwards further cut down the population. To make this all worse the new prospects brought by the Ironfurs has many people still leaving their lands even today. The population never managed to recover. The fact that this all also caused the lands to become some of the most raided in the north didn't help either. All in all the people along the Stony Shore have faced a extarordinary tough time in recent years and the local lords haven't been able to rise to the chalenges.
Let's once again begin with the islands. While only one is settled it is unlike the rest of the Stony Shore quite the haven to its people. With farming, animal husbandry and hunting the local birdlife the people would be quite well of in the food department but with the addition of the fish all along the coast they are even quite well of. There may not be any wood on the island but the food they have is enough to buy what they need and more in terms of wood, salt and iron. The fact that they have a deal with the ironborn to buy some wood for them as well kept the people nor only safe but gave them trade with some of the most unlikely neighboors. All in all this is enough for a population of close to 3000.
The rest of the smallfolk lifes all along the Stony Shore. Tought there is a large amount of settlers by Rillwater's Crossing. The more inlands areas have a larger population as well because of the higher difficulty for ironborn to reach there. Otherwise there are no special centers of population or heavily populated parts. Most villages have 100 people living in it at most and most nobles have only 200-300 smallfolk under their control. The lifestyle is mostly similar all over these lands. Most people work on fields litterd with stones. These make it difficult to tild the ground and cause the tools to break often. The people that don't work on the field depending on where they life either try fishing on the coast with varrying chances of success or more often are hunters. With an abundance of foxes and hares to hunt these are important sources of meat and coin for the people. The villages often share some animals together whose produce are used for all. As such the few chicken eggs, some milk and some wool is present in each village. This is sadly often no longer enough for all people present and some has to be bought in addition. Each village has a master of wood that takes care of the woods the village is close to. He decides and later cuts down the trees that he deems necesarry. His position is highly sought after. There are many gravel roads in these lands. While often not wide enough for carts these are quite well made for people travelling by foot.
Army:
Once upon a time before the local population was cut down so drastically the house managed to field a impressive 1500 men in their hightimes. Sadly they no longer can field such a number. With many villages becoming small and dependent on everyone present only some people can be recruited before the villages face hard times. Because of this the number they can bring has shrunken to 600 men at most. The fact that they have a functioning road network as well as a lot of nobles with raves lead them to manage recruiting 500 soldiers when the army is needed fast.
The largest part of the army is made up of archers. Most of the people in these parts have experience with bows from hunting and own a bow with arrows. When using a bow there is no need to buy materials with money they don't have. This also lead to their army to have nearly no armour. Once their archers are forced into close combat they will be hopelesly outmatched and die.
The second half of their army is made up of pridefull small time nobles. They have refused to give up their title of nobles and continue to own horses and armour that they shouldn't be able to buy. These men actually make for quite the formadible cavalry force. After all the nobles have experience with fighting. Especially against enemys with suppirior number. They are after all the only people that even try to ride down ironborn raiders that attack their already small villages. Surprisingly these men even when so horribly outnumbert manage to force small ironborn raiding parties away from their lands.
Economy:
The local economy is heavily dependent on trade while at the same time not neading it at all. While most of the goods needed are bought from the north and exchanged for rabbit meat there is sadly a large loss of wealth and people because of the ironborn. As such while trade is actually not exacly needed because all that is needed is more or less present the fact that money is stolen makes it so that trade is needed to replenish such wealth. Connections to the Reach actually make it posible to sustain this loss of wealth. Most of the pelts are sold to the Reach and ships coming from them bring wine and food for cheap into the Stony Shore. The large village Rillwater Crossing is actually the main port were the wine is deposited and the pelts are sold. The wine that is bought for cheap is then resolt by the Glemores all over the north for a small profit. This is not enough to make them actually wealthy but it mittigates most of the loss caused by raids. Thankfully the Redsands are also another source of income with their rather large population.
All in all it can be said that the house Glenmore couldn't hold their position without their reacher friends and the tarde they gain from it. Funnily enough the fact that they own a large part of the wine buisness in the north has caused them to own one of the larger villages along the western shores and made them somewhat a center of trade for southern buisness.